Wrench



Aug. 6, 1946. I 52mm 0 I WRENCH Filed April 14, 1944 .49. .L, .10 J5 Z9/ U414 f? H g V a I, i g hf" L l I i I N VEN TOR.

Patented Aug. 6, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WRENCH Carlyle B.Stair, Downers Grove, Ill.

Application April 14, 1944, Serial No. 531,101

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to Wrenches and more particularly to awrench socket which is light in weight and inexpensive to manufacture.

In aircraft, particularly combat aircraft, it frequently is necessary toremove the landing wheels from the craft. Since landings are made onlanding strips or air fields which are not necessarily equipped with alltypes of tools for the various types of aircraft, it is necessary tocarry in the aircraft certain tools to facilitate servicing of thecraft. One of the tools thus required is a socket wrench for the nutswhich retain landing wheels on their spindles. One of the chiefobjections heretofore has been that such wrenches are so heavy thatconsiderable weight is added to an airplane which otherwise might beused for other purposes.

In accordance with the present invention certain of the above mentioneddisadvantages are overcome by providing a relatively light weight socketwrench which is strong and yet occupies little space. Such wrench,therefore, permits an airplane to use the saving in weight for carryinga greater load.

It therefore is an object of the present invention to provide animproved light weight and relatively strong wrench socket.

It is another object of the present invention to provide animprovedmethod of manufacturing light weight wrench sockets or socket wrenches.

Other and further objects of the present invention subsequently willbecome apparent by reference to the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing wherein Figure 1 shows one stepin the manufacture of a wrench socket in accordance with the presentinvention;

Figures '2 and 3 are side and top views respectively illustratinganother step in the manufacture of a socket wrench;

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing a complete wrench socket made inaccordance with the present invention; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing a socket wrench about to beplaced upon a nut such as is used on aircraft for retaining landingwheels on their spindles.

In the manufacture of socket wrenches in accordance with the presentinvention a piece of pipe or tube I0 is cut in short lengths such as l2shown in Figure 1. A short length of tubing I2 is then placed upon thebed of a milling machine which has a narrow cutter l4 positioned so asto make a cut across the top of the tubing or pipe section l2. This cutof the milling cutter I4 is made so that the outer edge of the cut is ina plane substantially tangential to the inner diameter of the pipe ortubing l2. For a hexagonal wrench socket six cuts are made displaced atangles of sixty degrees as is apparent from Figure 3. These cutstherefore form a plurality of notches l6 about the periphery of the pipesection l2 on one end of the section. After six notches l6 have beenformed, a pair of ears l8 arranged diametrically opposite each other aresecured to the pipe section l2 by welding, brazing or other satisfactorymanner. The ears I8 preferably are provided with apertures 20 forreceiving a pipe or rod 22 which serves as a handle for the wrenchsocket. Figure 5 shows a wrench socket and handle 22 comprising a socketwrench assembly about to be positioned in engagement with a nut 24 ofthe type used to retain a wheel on a spindle, as is the case inaircraft.

From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that there hasbeen provided in a relatively simple and easy manner a light weightsocket wrench particularly suited for the purpose mentioned inconnection with aircraft. While the ears l8 have been shown in Figure 4as being attached to the exterior of the pipe section I2, they might besecured at the end or on the inside dependent upon other factors whichdetermine the preferable position. Obviously of course in place of thecircular openings 23 in the ears l8, other types of openings or notchesmight be utilized.

While for the purpose of describing and explaining the present inventiona certain specific embodiment has been shown, it is to be understoodthat certain variations thereof may be made in accordance with theteachings of the present invention as are apparent from the spirit andscope of the invention defined by the appended claims.

The present invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. The method of manufacturing a wrench socket which comprises cuttingpipe into short lengths, and producing a plurality of cuts successivelyacross one end of one of said lengths of pipe, said cuts each being in adifferent plane substantially tangent to the inside face of said pipe,said planes being angularly displaced from each other to form a regularpolygon.

2. The method of manufacturing a wrench socket comprising cutting tubinginto short lengths, and milling one end of one of said lengths of tubingsuccessively in a plurality of planes angularly displaced from .eachother so as to form an equiangular polygon, each plane beingsubstantially tangential to the inside circumference of said tubing.

CARLYLE B. STAIR.

